The Sydney Is Starting to Look a Lot More Interesting Than I Expected

I keep seeing more announcements come out for The Sydney in Scottsdale, and I have to admit, I'm starting to think this project could be a lot cooler than I originally expected.

At first, it was easy to look at The Sydney as another big mixed-use development with restaurants, entertainment and a hotel.

Scottsdale isn't exactly lacking any of those things.

But the more tenants that get announced, the more I think there's a bigger strategy starting to show itself here.

They're not just building places to eat.

They're building reasons to stay.

And the latest announcement might be one of the best examples yet.

Bistecca & Bones Is Coming

The newest addition is Bistecca & Bones, a new Italian steakhouse concept from the same restaurant group behind Bourbon & Bones.

The menu is expected to combine the steakhouse experience with Italian dishes, including pasta and seafood, plus some of the more theatrical things you'd expect from a Scottsdale dinner spot.

Think tableside Caesar salad and a flaming Bistecca Fiorentina.

On its own, that sounds like another solid restaurant addition.

But the restaurant actually isn't the part of this announcement that caught my attention most.

It's what's going upstairs.

An Actual Ski Lodge...in Scottsdale

Above Bistecca & Bones, the group is planning a much larger version of Old Town Ski Lodge.

If you're familiar with the original Scottsdale concept, you already know the idea.

Think après-ski atmosphere in the middle of the desert.

But this location sounds significantly more ambitious.

Plans include gondolas, ski lift chairs, a large outdoor patio and apparently even an actual walk-in ice bar.

Completely unnecessary in Scottsdale?

Probably.

Will people absolutely go there because of it?

Also probably.

And that's when this project started making more sense to me.

Look at Everything Else Coming to The Sydney

When you stop looking at each announcement individually and put the pieces together, you can see what they're trying to create.

The Sydney is also expected to include concepts like Reverb by Hard Rock, City Winery, The Rustic and Pickle & Social.

That's a pretty interesting mix.

You could potentially check into the hotel, have dinner, grab drinks somewhere completely different afterward, see live music, play pickleball or games and then finish the night without ever really needing to leave the development.

That's very different from building another shopping center where you eat dinner, walk past a few stores and go home.

The Sydney feels much more focused on experiences.

The Location Makes This Make Even More Sense

Then look at what's already surrounding it.

Talking Stick Resort.

Topgolf.

Salt River Fields.

Great Wolf Lodge.

This area already attracts people who aren't necessarily coming here to shop.

They're coming for spring training.

They're coming for concerts and events.

They're coming for golf, casinos, staycations and family trips.

So putting another entertainment-heavy destination right in the middle of all of that actually makes a ton of sense.

Someone coming into town for spring training could stay nearby, go to a game during the day and spend the entire evening at The Sydney.

Someone doing a Scottsdale staycation could have multiple restaurants and entertainment options within the same area.

And locals suddenly have another place where the question isn't simply, "Where should we have dinner?"

It's, "What should we do tonight?"

That's a much more interesting position for a development to be in.

Scottsdale Already Has Great Restaurants. It Needs a Reason to Choose This Area.

This is probably the biggest challenge for The Sydney.

Scottsdale already has some of the best dining and entertainment areas in the Valley.

Old Town is established.

Scottsdale Quarter and Kierland Commons are established.

People already have their favorite restaurants, bars and places to go.

So simply opening another nice steakhouse isn't enough to make this area stand out.

But combining restaurants with live music, entertainment, hotels and concepts that are a little over-the-top?

That might.

Because now The Sydney isn't necessarily trying to compete with one restaurant or one shopping center.

It's trying to become an entire night out.

This Could Become Its Own Entertainment District

That's where I think this gets interesting long term.

With everything already happening around Talking Stick, The Sydney could help turn this entire pocket into even more of an entertainment district.

You already have baseball, golf, resorts and family entertainment.

Now start layering in destination restaurants, live music venues, nightlife and additional hospitality.

Suddenly, there's enough happening that people can build an entire weekend around the area instead of visiting one attraction and leaving.

And that has a ripple effect.

More visitors support more restaurants.

More restaurants and entertainment make hotels more attractive.

More hotel guests create demand for additional experiences.

That's how destinations start to build momentum.

But We're Still a Ways Out

As exciting as some of these announcements sound, there's an important reality here.

A lot of this isn't opening tomorrow.

Bistecca & Bones, for example, is currently looking more like late 2027 or early 2028.

And with developments this large, things can change.

Timelines move.

Concepts evolve.

Tenants change.

We've seen that happen plenty of times around the Valley.

So I'm not looking at every rendering or announcement as a guarantee.

I'm looking at the overall direction.

And the direction is getting much more interesting.

My Take on The Sydney

When I first started following The Sydney, I wasn't convinced it would become somewhere I'd actually make a point to go.

Now?

I'm paying attention.

Bistecca & Bones sounds great, but it's the combination of everything that's starting to change my opinion.

Dinner at an Italian steakhouse.

Drinks inside a ski lodge.

An ice bar in Scottsdale.

Live music.

Pickleball.

A Hard Rock hotel.

And several major entertainment destinations already surrounding the development.

It feels like they're trying to create somewhere you arrive for dinner and somehow you're still there four hours later.

And if they can actually pull that off, The Sydney could become a really fun part of Scottsdale.

There's still a lot that has to happen between the announcements we're seeing today and the finished product.

But this is officially one I'm watching much more closely.